Marriage Seduction Addiction

Chapter 161 The person standing outside the door was Yan Shiyu.

Tang Xu was truly annoyed to see Ji Shiqing again when she opened the door.

Ji Shiqing, however, remained obedient, smiling at her with narrowed eyes. "Sister, I've come to see Song Luobai. He's going back to school in a couple of days, right? Final exams are coming up soon, and he's fallen behind in his studies for so long. I'm worried he won't be able to catch up, so I brought him some notes, hoping they'll be helpful."

This reason was irrefutable, and Tang Xu had no way to turn him away.

Tang Xu didn't want to get too involved in their affairs, so she simply pointed to Song Luobai's room and said to Ji Shiqing, "Go find him yourself."

“Okay!” Ji Shiqing replied with high spirits.

Tang Xu turned around and went back to her room.

She didn't know if Ji Shiqing had seen Song Luobai or how their conversation went. In any case, when she opened the door again, the room was very quiet, as if Ji Shiqing had never been there.

I didn't expect him to leave so easily today.

Tang Xu felt a slight sense of relief. She went into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water, but when she came out, she was surprised to see a trash can next to the dining room that was almost full.

Tang Xu vaguely remembered that the trash can was half empty when she got home, how could it be full so quickly?

She couldn't help but frown. She originally wanted to ask Song Luobai to come out and clean up, but in the end she did it herself, sorting out the trash bags and carrying them downstairs.

As Tang Xu descended into the underground parking lot, she was about to throw the trash bag into the trash can when she suddenly noticed someone squatting next to it.

Tang Xu's heart suddenly clenched, but she managed to hold back her cry.

However, when she realized that the person squatting next to the trash can was actually Ji Shiqing, she was completely at a loss for how to react.

Upon noticing her, Ji Shiqing also stood up abruptly, repeatedly saying, "Sister, did I scare you? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"

Tang Xu steadied herself and asked, "Why aren't you going home? What are you doing squatting here?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Shiqing's expression darkened slightly, and her long eyelashes drooped down, obscuring her clear eyes.

“I’m not going home,” he said.

"why?"

Tang Xu regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, but it was too late.

“I had a fight with my uncle,” Ji Shiqing said. “He said he wanted to send me away, but I didn’t want to, so we had a big fight… I’m not going back.”

He mentioned Yan Shiyu again.

Tang Xu didn't want to say a word, but the conversation had gotten so far that she had no choice but to speak.

“No family member is immune to arguments,” Tang Xu said. “No adult would hold a grudge against a child. Go back and apologize, and everything will be alright.”

"My uncle isn't like that at all!" Ji Shiqing's eyes widened slightly as she said, "He's terrifying. I've witnessed how he deals with people... Now that I've disobeyed him, he definitely won't let me off the hook! I can't go back; if I do, he'll beat me to death!"

"Stop talking nonsense."

"Really! Sister, you don't know what kind of person my uncle is. If you did, you wouldn't think that way..."

Tang Xu paused for a moment, thought about it, and realized that she really didn't know what kind of person Yan Shiyu was.

But she couldn't say anything else. She just threw away the trash in her hand and said to Ji Shiqing, "It's freezing cold. Go back early."

"Sister, can you take me in?" Ji Shiqing suddenly asked pitifully.

Tang Xu met his gaze quietly for two seconds before giving her answer: "No."

Ji Shiqing immediately wilted, and a clear sense of grievance flickered in her clear eyes.

"Can you lend me five hundred yuan?" Ji Shiqing asked again.

Unfortunately, Tang Xu showed no sign of softening her stance, replying, "I can't either."

Are you afraid I won't pay you back?

"I'm afraid you won't come home," Tang Xu said. "I can't bear the responsibility if you don't come home. Listen to me, go back."

After saying that, Tang Xu didn't linger and turned to walk back into the building.

Back upstairs, Tang Xu sat quietly on the sofa for a long time. As an hour passed, she took the opportunity to go downstairs again for a quick look.

Ji Shiqing is no longer there.

fortunately.

The next day is Saturday.

Tang Xu had made an appointment to have lunch that day, so she didn't leave until almost noon.

As she sat by the door changing her shoes, Song Luobai's phone rang while she was sitting on the sofa.

Song Luobai answered the phone. He listened to what the other person said, his brows furrowing more and more as he listened. Finally, he hung up and said, "Crazy!"

Tang Xu asked, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know where this lunatic came from, saying that Ji Shiqing is in their hands... What does it matter to me if Ji Shiqing is in their hands? Can't they even find the right target for their kidnapping?"

As he answered, Tang Xu was standing up when she heard the words "kidnapping and extortion," and her high heels suddenly wobbled.

"Hiss—" Tang Xu cried out in pain.

Song Luobai glanced at her from the sofa without moving, and simply asked indifferently, "Are you alright?"

Tang Xu had already sat back down on the shoe stool. After a moment of silence, she said to Song Luobai, "Give me the phone."

"What? You don't actually believe that, do you?"

Muttering to himself, Song Luobai still stood up, walked over, and handed the phone to Tang Xu.

Tang Xu took the phone and quickly checked the number from earlier.

Song Luobai's gaze fell on her ankle, which was red and swollen.

He had just looked away when Tang Xu's phone rang again, and this time, Tang Xu answered the call.

Unexpectedly, the person on the other end of the phone, upon hearing her voice, immediately called out her surname, "Are you Miss Tang?" "Yes, I am," Tang Xu replied.

"That's good." The man on the other end of the phone sounded very ordinary, without any distinguishing features. "Just letting you know that Ji Shiqing is in my hands. I won't ask for much ransom, just 2000 million. I know the Yan family is worth this, and the Yan family should be able to afford it. Please prepare within one day."

"I'm not from the Yan family," Tang Xu said. "Are you sure you haven't got the wrong person?"

“I know,” the other person said, “but this kid said only you can help him. So, I came to you.”

After he finished speaking, he seemed to do something, and suddenly Ji Shiqing's wails came from the other end of the phone.

Tang Xu suddenly gripped the phone tightly.

"I'll call back."

After saying that, the phone was immediately hung up.

Tang Xu sat there, holding her phone, for a long time without moving.

Song Luobai stared at her. "You don't believe this, do you? It's such an obvious scam, Tang Xu, wake up! Who would believe something like this? Besides, even if Ji Shiqing really was kidnapped, what does it have to do with us?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Xu slowly raised her eyes to look at him. "He will call again. You may have to lend out your phone today."

Tang Xu's tone remained calm, but Song Luobai still noticed the change in her expression.

Despite her exquisite makeup, Song Luobai could vaguely see that her lips and complexion were slightly pale.

"You really believe that?"

"I don't know if I believe it or not," Tang Xu said. "I only know that you can't gamble on this kind of thing."

After saying that, Tang Xu took out his phone and his fingers trembled slightly as he swiped through the contacts.

She subconsciously searched for the name, but after flipping through the pages, she still couldn't find the name she was looking for.

It was only then that Tang Xu remembered that she had deleted his number long ago.

It's not just him.

She didn't keep the phone numbers of Gao Yan, Duan Siwei, and all the other people connected to him.

However, the next moment, Tang Xu tapped the dial pad, almost subconsciously typed in a string of numbers, and dialed—

When she saw the number on her phone screen, she realized that she actually remembered his phone number.

Yan Shiyu's phone number.

In an instant, Tang Xu's blood seemed to freeze, and he stared at the string of numbers slowly and numbly, motionless.

"Whose phone is this?" Song Luobai asked from the side. "Who are you calling?"

Tang Xu did not answer.

She just stared at the number, listening to the dial tone coming from the phone, lost in thought and confusion.

However, just like many times before when she called him, it rang for a long time but no one answered.

As the dial tone sounded, Tang Xu slowly came to her senses. Just as she was about to start trying to recall Gao Yan's phone number, the number she dialed... went through.

The call connected, but there was no sound on the other end.

Tang Xu couldn't help but lose her composure again and remained silent.

It wasn't until Song Luobai impatiently bumped into her that she finally said, "What kind of call is this? Why is there no sound? Say something!"

Tang Xu snapped out of her daze and finally spoke: "Excuse me... are you Mr. Yan?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before a calm, even detached response came through: "It's me."

Song Luobai, who was standing next to him, widened his eyes in surprise.

While organizing his thoughts, Tang Xu began, "My brother just received a call. Someone said that Ji Shiqing is in their hands and they need a ransom of 2000 million yuan, which needs to be prepared within a day. Mr. Yan, please confirm the truth of this matter and Ji Shiqing's safety as soon as possible. If they call again, I will contact you again."

Yan Shiyu did not respond on the other end of the phone.

After a moment of silence, the call was abruptly ended.

Song Luobai was a little confused. "What does this mean? Does he think it's a scam call? You didn't even tell him who you are, how could he believe you? Do you want to call again?"

Tang Xu had already put away her phone and only replied in a low voice with two words: "No need."

"How did you know Yan Shiyu's phone number?" Song Luobai asked again.

Tang Xu only found him noisy and got up to go back to her room, but she forgot about her high heels and sprained ankle. She stumbled and fell straight to the ground.

Song Luobai quickly reached out to help her up, but after Tang Xu managed to steady herself, she abruptly withdrew her hand, frowning in disgust, "Why don't you take off those cumbersome high heels first!"

Tang Xu glanced down, quickly took off her shoes, and, enduring the excruciating pain, walked to the sofa and sat down.

"You haven't answered my question yet." Song Luobai became even more curious as she received no response.

After a long silence, Tang Xu said, "I don't want to talk about it."

Song Luobai choked for a moment, then snatched her phone back in annoyance and sat down at the other end, far away.

Nearly ten minutes later, Tang Xu's phone suddenly rang.

She looked down and saw an unfamiliar number, which she quickly answered.

Gao Yan's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Ms. Tang, this is Gao Yan. I will contact you using this number from now on. It's true that Ji Shiqing is in trouble. Please keep an eye on the phone. I'll have someone come over to handle it soon."

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Song Luobai glanced at Tang Xu's ankle, then reluctantly got up to open the door.

The moment the door opened, Song Luobai's pupils suddenly tightened.

The person standing outside the door was Yan Shiyu.